Paleontology News

An artist’s impression of Devonian forest. Image credit: Eduard Riou / Rursus.

Evolution of Tree Roots Triggered Series of Devonian Mass Extinctions, Study Suggests

Nov 11, 2022 by News Staff

The Devonian period, which occurred 419 to 358 million years ago, prior to the evolution of life on land, is known for a series of catastrophic mass extinction...

Life reconstruction of Stenoscelida aurantiacus. Image credit: Matheus Fernandes / Universidade Federal de Santa Maria.

New Species of Triassic Crocodile-Like Reptile Identified in Brazil

Nov 9, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have discovered a new fossil reptile that lived during the Late Triassic epoch in southern Brazil. Life reconstruction of Stenoscelida...

Diorama of Ediacaran organisms displayed at the Smithsonian Institution. Image credit: Ryan Somma / CC BY-SA 2.0.

Study: Decreased Global Oxygen Availability Caused End-Ediacaran Mass Extinction

Nov 9, 2022 by News Staff

Mass extinctions are well recognized as significant steps in the evolutionary trajectory of life on Earth. In new research, geobiologists from Virginia...

Cymatioa cooki. Image credit: P. Valentich-Scott & J.H.R. Goddard, doi: 10.3897/zookeys.1128.95139.

Fossil Clam Species Found Living Off Southern California

Nov 8, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Cymatioa cooki, a species of small bivalve mollusk previously only known from the Pleistocene period, has been found living intertidally near Santa Barbara,...

Hand sample of Dresser Formation stromatolite with domical topography (arrowed). Image credit: Hickman-Lewis et al., doi: 10.1130/G50390.1.

3.5-Billion-Year-Old Australian Stromatolites Have Biogenic Origin, New Research Confirms

Nov 7, 2022 by News Staff

Stromatolites are solid, laminar structures reflecting complex interplays between microbial communities and their environment. Hand sample of Dresser Formation...

Life reconstruction of the thescelosaurine dinosaur Parksosaurus warreni, a close relative of Nevadadromeus schmitti. Image credit: Steveoc 86 / CC BY-SA 3.0.

New Plant-Eating Dinosaur Species Uncovered in Nevada

Nov 4, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists from the Nevada Science Center, Idaho State University and Montana State University have described a new genus and species of thescelosaurine...

UV light-induced fluorescence revealing residual color patterns in Pleuronectites laevigatus: (A-B) left valve with broad radial color bands showing continuation of bands after a growth line only under UV light, Upper Muschelkalk, Trochitenkalk Formation, Germany; (C-D) left valve with zigzag pattern, Upper Muschelkalk, Germany; (A, C) specimens under normal light; (B, D) specimens under UV light; note that in adult specimens of the species auricles are often not preserved. Scale bars - 1 cm. Image credit: Klaus Wolkenstein, doi: 10.1111/pala.12625.

240-Million-Year-Old Scallop Shells Glow under Ultraviolet Light

Nov 2, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

University of Bonn researcher Klaus Wolkenstein has examined the fossilized specimens of the Triassic scallop species Pleuronectites laevigatus with preserved...

Archaeocyclotus brevivillosus. Image credit: Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum.

Cretaceous-Period Land Snail Had Hairy Shell

Oct 26, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have described a new species of cyclophorid snail found in a piece of mid-Cretaceous amber excavated from a mine in Myanmar (formerly known...

Choanate vertebrates’ acoustic communication ancestral state reconstruction analysis: tree includes 1,800 choanatian species assigned either with the character presence or absence of acoustic communication; pie charts at ancestral nodes indicate likelihood of each character state; colors in the spectrograms represent sound intensity, with warm colors representing high intensity and cold colors (i.e. blue) representing low intensity or absence of sounds. Image credit: Jorgewich-Cohen et al., doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-33741-8.

Acoustic Communication May Have Appeared as Early as 407 Million Years Ago

Oct 26, 2022 by Sergio Prostak

Acoustic communication, broadly distributed among vertebrates, plays a fundamental role in parental care, mate attraction and various other behaviors....

An artist’s impression of Pteranodon. Image credit: Heinrich Harder.

New Species of Pterosaur Unearthed in Angola

Oct 24, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have identified a new genus and species of pteranodontian pterosaur from fossilized bones found in the Republic of Angola. An artist’s...

Aepyornithomimus tugrikinensis. Image credit: Masato Hattori.

Ostrich-Like Dinosaurs Grew to Enormous Sizes in Cretaceous North America, Paleontologists Say

Oct 19, 2022 by News Staff

Some species of ornithomimosaurs that lived in what is now Mississippi, the United States, some 85 million years ago were among the world’s largest at...

An artist’s impression of Pangurban egiae. Image credit: Kyoto University / Jim Melli, San Diego Natural History Museum.

Eocene-Period Mammal Was Hypercarnivore with Serrated Teeth

Oct 14, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of saber-toothed mammalian carnivore has been identified from a fossil found in California, the United States. An artist’s impression...

Evidence of desiccation in Edmontosaurus. Image credit: Drumheller et al., doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0275240.

New Research Indicates Simple Path to Preserving Dinosaur Soft Tissues

Oct 12, 2022 by News Staff

A new analysis of a natural ‘mummy’ of the hadrosaurian dinosaur Edmontosaurus from the Hell Creek Formation of southwestern North Dakota — which...

An artist’s impression of Nombe nombe (right) and other prehistoric animals from Nombe Rockshelter, Papua New Guinea. Image credit: Peter Shouten.

Some Megafaunal Species Survived in New Guinea until 20,000 Years Ago

Oct 9, 2022 by News Staff

Paleontologists have re-examined the remains of extinct, large-bodied marsupials recovered from Pleistocene-aged layers of Nombe Rockshelter in the highlands...

Artwork depicting one dinosaur’s experience of the Chicxulub impact. Image credit: Hermann Bermúdez.

Seismic Activity after Dinosaur-Killing Chicxulub Impact Lasted Weeks to Months: Study

Oct 7, 2022 by News Staff

About 66 million years ago, a massive asteroid crashed into Earth near the site of the small town of Chicxulub in what is now Mexico. This impact coincides...

Lunataspis borealis specimens and interpretive drawings. Gray indicates preservation of organic cuticular material. Abbreviations: AN - axial node; CL - cardiac lobe; CN - cardiac node; FT - free tergites; LE - lateral eye; MR - marginal rim; OR - ophthalmic ridge; PT - pretelson. Scale bars - 1 mm. Image credit: Lamsdell et al., doi: 10.1017/S0016756822000875.

New Species of Ordovician Horseshoe Crab Unearthed in Canada

Oct 6, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Horseshoe crabs, or xiphosurans, are an order of marine and brackish water arthropods. Despite their common name, they are not really crabs, and are more...

Life reconstruction of Scleromochlus taylori. Image credit: Gabriel Ugueto.

Scleromochlus taylori: Tiny Triassic Reptile is Close Relative of Pterosaurs

Oct 5, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have created the first accurate skeletal reconstruction of Scleromochlus taylori, a small species of reptile that lived during the Triassic...

This painting depicts an asteroid slamming into tropical, shallow seas of the sulfur-rich Yucatan Peninsula in what is today southeast Mexico. The aftermath of this immense asteroid collision, which occurred approximately 65 million years ago, is believed to have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs and many other species on Earth. Shown in this painting are pterodactyls, flying reptiles with wingspans of up to 50 feet, gliding above low tropical clouds. Image credit: Donald E. Davis / NASA.

Dinosaur-Killing Chicxulub Impact Produced Global Tsunami, New Research Suggests

Oct 5, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

About 66 million years ago, a massive asteroid crashed into Earth near the site of the small town of Chicxulub in what is now Mexico. The impact eradicated...

Life restoration of Ichthyosaurus anningae. Image credit: James McKay.

Early Jurassic Ichthyosaurs Had Predatory Specializations, Study Says

Oct 4, 2022 by News Staff

Jurassic ichthyosaurs dominated upper trophic levels of marine ecosystems. Many species coexisted alongside each another, and it is uncertain whether they...